The evolution of Mars landings, from airbag deployments to the sky crane maneuver, is a testament to the pioneering spirit of space exploration. Driven by necessity and inspired by invention ...

Aerojet Rocketdyne went a step farther, urging NASA to reduce the mass of the Mars rocket to reuse its sky crane. A Mars rover descends to the surface of the planet with the help of the sky crane ...

[Mars Rover's Sky Crane Landing (Infographic)] Step one The first step in this process will be a guided entry, during which the entire MSL spacecraft (currently consisting of the rover and descent ...

Just landing successfully on Mars is a feat, but the Curiosity mission went several steps further on Aug. 5, 2012, touching down with a bold new technique: the sky crane maneuver. A swooping ...

When Curiosity's six wheels hit the red dirt inside Mars' huge Gale Crater, its "sky crane " descent stage will fly off and crash-land intentionally a safe distance away. NASA has dubbed the ...

Here’s how it works. The Perseverance Mars rover's "sky crane" descent stage made the ultimate sacrifice last week, and we now have a photo to memorialize the flying robot's heroic death.

A similar system was used for the Curiosity rover eight years ago, but the sky-crane system has never been tested on the Earth because Mars gravity and thin air cannot be duplicated here.

It will be the moment of truth for the sky crane concept. "We are at a low throttle setting for about a second after we come out of the back shell to allow ourselves to fall toward Mars and ...

The first option will rely on the sky crane method, used for the entry descent and landing of the two rovers still exploring Mars. The second will utilize new commercial capabilities and partners ...

When I read that the UFO-looking Mars Science Laboratory’s aeroshell would use a floating crane-called Sky Crane by NASA-to softly land the rover on Mars, I couldn’t believe it. Now ...